Government updates plan ahead of final UNESCO reef decision

Pam has been at the Daily Mercury since March 2013 and has also worked as a journalist in Batemans Bay and Wellington both in NSW. And yes, that does make her a Blues supporter. Growing up she moved around different places including Sydney, Moree, Wollongong and lived for about two years as a high school student on a small island in Micronesia called Pohnpei. Pam loves water sports, including SCUBA diving, snorkelling and kayaking but her awful balance means she’ll never touch a surf board. Ever...

AS UNESCO's World Heritage Committee is due to make its final decision this week on whether to list the Great Barrier Reef as "in danger", the federal and Queensland governments have updated the intergovernmental agreement.

The governments established the Great Barrier Reef Intergovernmental Agreement in 1979 and now the long term 2050 sustainability plan has been included as a schedule to the agreement.

The Reef Advisory Committee has also been announced and includes people from environment, reef, science, farmer and resources bodies.

On the same day as these announcements, Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt also said the Abbott government would appoint an independent expert panel to provide scientific advice on reef priorities.

This panel will provide advice on implementing the 2050 long term plan.